Target Audience Research

For my target audience research, I decided to make a set of 10 questions which I will ask people that fit into my target audience to answer, I will do this using Google forms. I chose to use a questionnaire because I think the data will be easy to gather and summarise. The purpose of this target audience research is for me to find out more information about my target audience's likes and dislikes so I can aim to create a music video that will appeal to my audience and therefore be successful. My chosen genre is R&B so the majority of my questions are related to this genre. I also decided to ask a mixture of both open and closed questions in order to gather a wide range of information about my target audience. 

Demographics and Psychographics

The target audience for our opening sequence is mostly the younger generation so teenagers and young adults of any gender. Our target audience will be Generation Y and Generation Z. According to the Socio-Economic model, our music video will appeal to Group E (students) in particular and the other groups as young adults are in many different jobs. As for psychographics, our music video will be aimed at Explorers, Strugglers and Reformers. 

Questionnaire Questions

Closed Questions

1. How familiar are you with the genre of R&B? 
2. How often do you listen to R&B?
3. How old are you?
4. How often do you watch music videos?
5. What genre of music is your least favourite?

Open Questions

1. If narrative, what kind of narrative would you like to see in a music video?
2. What are you're top three favourite R&B music videos?
3. What makes a good music video?
4. What kinds of things do you expect to see in an R&B music video?
5. What is your favourite style of music video and why? (Performance, Narrative, Concept, Intertextuality or In Concert/Live Performance)

Questionnaire Results

Overall, I got a total of  12 responses for both questionnaires (the one with open questions and the one with closed questions) and I decided to summarise the results using a range of pie charts and graphs to accurately present my findings and how they will influence the planning of my final product. 

Results for Open Questions 

In the case of my Open Questions, the data I collected was qualitative meaning that it would be hard to represent using pie charts or graphs so instead I will just provide screenshots of the responses from my Google Form. 

1. If narrative, what kind of narrative would you like to see in a music video? 

2. What are your top 3 favourite music videos?

3. What makes a good music video? 

4. What kinds of things do you expect to see in an R&B music video? 

5. What is your favourite style of music video and why? (Performance, Intertextuality, Narrative, Concept or In Concert/Live Performance)













Results for Closed Questions 

The data that I gathered from my closed questions was quantitative and therefore easier to summarise using pie charts and graphs. 

1. 

2.

3. 

4. 

5. 

I have concluded that from the results of my open questions, R&B is a popular genre within my target audience as 4/5 people said that was their favourite genre as it was more interesting than other styles of music video which also allows for important messages to be communicated through the video. Referring to our music video, this important message being communicated would be mental health. This is really important as we want to be producing a music video that our audience will enjoy and be interested in. When asked what they expected in an R&B music video most of my target audience said that they would expect expensive cars, celebrities and women (meaning the male gaze would be present). This was an important finding in the sense that our music video will go against the typical conventions of the genre which we hope will make our video unique and interesting to watch. Another question about audience's favourite music videos showed that most of their chosen videos were by mostly R&B artists similar to Logic meaning that our music video will be watched by our audience.  Many of our target audience also said that they would enjoy and look for a narrative music video with a thought provoking and emotional story behind it; this is really important as these are elements that we are including in our music video which ensures that it will be successful. My closed questions didn't allow for much detail in terms of answers but what I did gain from the closed questions was that it would  be correct to assume that my audience are very familiar with the genre of R&B and will like our music video and what it consists of. 

Digipak Research

Website Research

Music Video Analysis - Turn Up The Music by Chris Brown

‘Turn Up The Music’ was released by Chris Brown in February, 2012. The song was written by Alexander "Fuego" Palmer, Chris Brown, Damon Thomas, Harvey Mason, Jr., Michael "Mike J" Jimenez, Terence Coles and Agent X. It was produced by Fuego and The Underdogs. The song was released as a single for his album Fortune and was distributed by RCA Records. 

This music video is a mix between performance and narrative but the majority is performance. As for the narrative part of the music video, it starts with Chris Brown drinking alcohol in the streets before hailing a taxi. Inside the taxi, he asks the driver to take him to the best spot in town and turn up the air conditioning. The driver responds by turning up the music wearing a horse mask. He exits the cab onto a street full of people wearing animal heads and goes into a club and starts a dance sequence. A large majority of the video he is dancing but when the camera is on his face, lip-syncing is used. Considering that as part of the narrative, he enters the street which is filled with lots of people, I think the music video would have been quite expensive to produce as they would have had to pay lots of actors/extras. This music video relies heavily on Mise-En-Scene. 

Mise-En-Scene

Props used in this music video include: a bottle of alcohol in a paper bag, the animal masks and a futuristic hover cab. There are three costumes that Chris Brown wears during the music video: the first outfit is a black and white suit with a black tie and a pair of black brogues whereas the second outfit is the same as the first minus the shirt and plus a black hat. The third outfit is a pair of beige suspender trousers, a black sleeveless vest and a grey hat. As for the first costume which is the black and white suit which is featured the most frequently, the choice of costume links in with the narrative, although most people would go to a nightclub in more casual clothes, perhaps he has come from an event or meeting. Anyone who is Chris Brown who is featured in the music video is wearing some kind of mask; this links in with the futuristic and almost strange atmosphere of the video. As for location, it looks as if an empty nightclub was used for majority of the video including the dancing scenes along with the crowded street and an empty rundown building. As the music video was clearly meant to appear as if it was happening at night, lighting is relied on heavily to make it realistic. What looks like strobe lights are relied on in the otherwise dark dance scenes in the empty nightclub.

Camerawork

In terms of camerawork, the two main shot types used are close ups and long shots. The close up shots are used to capture the artist when lip-syncing in an attempt to make the audience feel connected to the artist and help to develop star image whereas the long shots are used frequently used to show the dance routine and establish location within the shot. Many of the shots appear to be hand held which are appropriate considering the narrative and upbeat tempo of the music. A relatively low angle shot is used to capture Chris Brown getting out the cab and onto the street – the effect of which is to make him appear vulnerable which he is considering he has walked out of the cab into an unknown location crowded with people wearing relatively scary masks. 

Sound

In terms of the lyrics and song writing process, the song was written by many people including Chris Brown himself, Damon Thomas, Leon Price and many others. ‘Turn Up The Music’ was produced by Fuego and The Underdogs. The song itself is classified as a electronic dance and house song due to its upbeat rhythm.

Key features of the song include the use of a synthesizer, pulsating beats and percussion. The sound effect of a car coming to a halt is used at the beginning when Chris Brown is hailing the futuristic hover cab. There is also the non-diegetic and muffled sound of the cab driver’s voice since he’s wearing a mask. The song officially starts when the driver says he’ll turn the music up – the song fades in. As for the ending of the song, it slowly fades out. 

Editing

In terms of editing, basic cuts are used frequently to transition between shots however, as the tempo speeds up so do the transitions. There is also a use of fade to black transitions when the rhythm of the music slows down towards the end of the song. Slow motion is used towards the end of the video when the tempo is slowing down. Special effects are also used to make it look like there are 3 Chris Brown in a shot towards the end of the video.  During the main chorus of the song, special effects are used again to create the illusion of crack appearing in the walls due to both the dancers’ performance and the bass of the music. 

▶    Discuss the representation of people especially focusing on gender identity including voyeurism

As Chris Brown is the main performer and artist, he is the only one who is shown in detail and is the main focus of the audience’s attention throughout the video. Similarly to the male gaze, Chris Brown is represented negatively as the purpose of his second costume (of which he is topless) is to attract a female audience. Women overall in this music video aren’t seen as they are all wearing masks but they wear relatively revealing clothes in comparison to the men who are very much covered up. Both high and low angle shots are used to represent Chris Brown in various ways – high angle shots are used to make him appear vulnerable particularly at the beginning of the music video in which he doesn’t know where he is whereas low angle shots are used to make him seem powerful and superior to the audience which is probably female due to his target audience.

▶    What can you say about the record label behind the production this? Has this influenced the final product? If so, how?

The record label behind the production of this music video was RCA Records which is owned by Sony Music. Although this record label is owned by one of the big 3, I don’t think that it influenced the final product as all of Chris Brown’s music video have the same genre characteristics which reflect him as an artist. However, it could be argued that the record label has influenced these genre characteristics in an attempt to attract a certain audience in order to keep them coming back, thus building a secure fan base for the artist.

▶    What audience has been targeted and how can you tell? What makes it suitable for them? What type of audiences wouldn’t it be suitable for and why? Are there any secondary audiences?

I think that the target audience for this music video is mainly young people, particularly young women due to the way that Chris Brown is presented. I think a large percentage of the target audience is also young men and those around the age of the artist as they can relate to him and see him as a role model who they aspire to be like. Also the fact that it is largely performance based means that it will probably appeal to a younger audience rather than the older generation.


Watch the full video here:

Music Video Analysis - Survivor by Destiny's Child

‘Survivor’ was released by girl group Destiny’s Child in February 2001. Destiny’s Child is made up of three members: Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. The song was written by Beyoncé, Anthony Dent and Matthew Knowles for the group’s third studio album ‘Survivor’. The song was distributed by Columbia Records.

This is a mix between narrative and performance music video as the group members are lip syncing and performing to the camera throughout the narrative. The technique of lip-syncing is used by all three members in this music video and works effectively to make it look as if they are actually singing the song. I would say that in the production of this music video, both mise-en-scene and chroma key are relied on heavily to convey both narrative and meaning of the song. I think that for this reason, the music video must have been quite expensive to produce. 

Mise-En-Scene

The only prop that was used in the music video was an orange raft which Kelly Rowland’s character arrived in however, costume is heavily relied on. There are 3 main outfits that are switched between during the music video. 

For example, when all girls wake up on the beach, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams wear an all red dress whereas Beyoncé wears a yellow dress. I think the reason that Beyoncé  is wearing yellow and not red is to make her stand out from the rest of the group and present her clearly as the lead singer and performer of the group. I think that these colours were chosen as they are symbolic – red often symbolises both power and anger which links in with the lyrics. 

In contrast, the colour yellow which Beyoncé is dressed in often symbolises happiness and positivity which reflects the  lyrics as they are singing about being independent. When arriving on the island at the beginning of the video, all their costumes are torn which makes it appear as though they have. Later on in the music video as part of the narrative, they change outfits from their torn dresses to what looks like a handmade bikini top/bra and skirt from animal skin. 

In terms of this costume choice, although different I wouldn’t say that any of them look better than the others – they all look of equal importance. When in this costume, Beyoncé wears medium sized gold hoops in comparison to Kelly who wear small studs and Michelle who wears no earrings. This reinforces the idea of Beyoncé being the lead and thus more important than the others. However, in the shots towards the end of the video when they are struggling on the raft, Beyoncé is still wearing gold hoops, Michelle is now wearing hoops and Kelly wears no earrings. After climbing up the cliff and finding what looks like a deserted temple, there is one final outfit change – the girls emerge wearing camouflage outfits. Beyoncé is wearing very short camouflage shorts and bralet with black boots. As for accessories she wears the same gold hoops and a camouflage headband. Kelly wears a very similar outfit – a one shoulder bralet with short camouflage shorts and black boots with no accessories. Michelle looks slightly different to Kelly and Michelle wearing camouflage trousers and a more covering bralet with black boots and a shiny silver necklace. 

What I have noticed about all the outfits worn by the girls throughout is that in all of them, their waists and hips are exposed. This is an example of the male gaze which is reinforced through voyeuristic camera angles. I also noticed that Beyoncé is placed in the middle of all the shots, the effect of this is that the audience’s attention is drawn to whatever is in the centre of the frame (her) as she is the lead, making her more important than the other girls. I think chroma key was used for the shots in the deserted temple but for the other locations like the beach and the jungle the group probably travelled to these places for the music video. For the shots at the beach, high-key lighting is used whereas in the shots in the jungle and the temple, a mixture of low-key and high-key lighting is used.

Camerawork

 In terms of camerawork, there is a frequent use of voyeuristic angles to capture the female body. There are a lot of close up shots of the women’s’ chest area, legs, waist and hips. This is an example of the male gaze which is evident in most music videos. Accompanying the close up shots, the camera also pans up and down their bodies, often not showing their face. Camera angles like this are used to sexualise and objectify the female body, by not showing their face and only their body, the subject is being downgraded to the status of a sexual object for the visual pleasure of the heterosexual male. (Mulvey’s Male Gaze). Long and medium shots are used throughout to establish location as well as head-on shots which make the audience feel connected to the artist. Close up shots are used to capture each member of the group as an individual.  

A very high angle shot is used here to put us into the perspective of the man also on the island who has spotted them. The effect of this show is that if makes the group look vulnerable which they are to some extent at the beginning of the video as they have washed up onto a unknown island. Head-on shots are used more frequently when the women are in the jungle and performing to the camera through the bamboo trees. Low angle shots are often used when the girls are performing together during the chorus to make them look strong and powerful which reinforces the meaning of the song – they are singing about how they are strong and independent survivors. Similarly, there are also high angle shots to capture the whole group of dancers at the deserted temple. 

Sound

The lyrics were written by Beyoncé Knowles, Matthew Knowles and Anthony Dent and was produced by Beyoncé and Antony Dent. A both writer and producer, Beyoncé sings and performs majority of the song, however Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams have their own solos. Beyoncé is the lead singer but the chorus is sung by all members of the group. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams both have their own solos but Michelle’s is significantly shorter than Kelly’s. The concept for the music video came about from a TV show with the same name about contestants voting each other off an island. At the time the song was being produced, a great deal of negativity surrounded the group after 3 members left, because of this Beyoncé wanted to ‘write them out of the negativity’. 

The meaning behind the song is one of independence and being able to handle anything that gets thrown at you. The song has a very upbeat rhythm which links with the meaning of the song. At the beginning of the song, there is the non-diegetic sound of typing as the words appear on the screen but also the sound of a helicopter. There is another helicopter sound effect at the end.

Editing

The video starts with a shot of the sky with text that reads: ‘Somewhere in the south pacific…’ in green coloured writing which is written in a font that looks like computer code before it fades out just before the video. There is lots of fading to black effects at the beginning of the video as it establishes the members as individuals and makes the narrative mysterious. As the tempo speeds up so do the length of time between shots – cuts are used to transition between shots. As the camera needs to follow all 3 members individually, there are a lot of jump cuts. Zooming in is used quite often to establish location, for example the shot starts in the jungle but zooms into the jungle to show where the group is. 

▶    Discuss the representation of people especially focusing on gender identity including voyeurism

As Destiny’s Child is an all girls group they are the only women in the music video along with one other man who seems to have been living on the island for a while. In terms of representation, I think that all 3 members of the group are represented quite negatively due to the male gaze. The voyeuristic angles that have been used to capture them make it seem like they are only on screen for the visual pleasure of the audience.

I think the way that they have been represented contradicts the lyrics of the song as they are singing about being strong and independent but are dressed to please a male audience. The high angle shot that I talked about earlier was from the man’s perspective looking down upon the women which makes him seem superior in relation to them. Therefore, in this specific shot women are represented as being vulnerable in relation to the man who is looking down on them. On the other hand, the group are presented positively through the meaning of the song – they are singing about being strong and independent which could be seen as inspirational to a wide audience. Throughout the narrative, all the girls stick together, this suggests that they have a close friendship which is a positive representation. 

▶    What can you say about the record label behind the production this? Has this influenced the final product? If so, how?

The record label behind the production of this music video was Columbia Records. As I previously mentioned in the sound section of this analysis, Beyoncé had a large part in the production of the music video. For this reason, I find it unlikely that the record label influenced the music video. Columbia Records is a very large and successful record label that has signed various artists from many different genres which makes me think that they have a lot of freedom in terms of the music videos that they distribute. In comparison to a smaller record label that has a more niche audience, they do not have to make music videos with specific genre characteristics.

▶    What audience has been targeted and how can you tell? What makes it suitable for them? What type of audiences wouldn’t it be suitable for and why? Are there any secondary audiences?

Similarly to the TLC ‘No Scrubs’ music video, I think that the main target audience for this music video is young women as they are of a similar age to the members of the group and can probably relate to the meaning behind the song. A small percentage of the target audience will be young men due to the voyeuristic angles used. These angles have been used deliberately to attract a male audience. The fact that it is largely performance based means that it will probably appeal to a younger audience rather than the older generation.

Watch the full music video here:

Music Video Analysis - Thriller by Michael Jackson

‘Thriller’ was released in December 1983 worldwide by the ‘King Of Pop’, Michael Jackson for his studio album ‘Thriller’. The music video for ‘Thriller’ is 14 minutes long and was directed by John Landis. The official music video was released by Epic Records and Vestron Video. The video was also released via Michael Jackson’s VEVO channel 8 years ago and currently has over 450 million views.  

This music video is a mix two styles: it is narrative based but contains performance to the audience as part of the narrative story. This music video makes use of lip-syncing throughout. I would say that the video relies heavily on mise-en-scene to make the narrative realistic. There was clearly a lot of effort that went into the production of this music video, specifically the mise-en-scene and the dance routine. For this reason, I think that the music video would have been very time consuming and expensive to produce but it was clearly worth it due to its success.  

Mise-En-Scene

As this is a partly narrative based music video we would expect a few props. Props used in this music video include: the ring me gives to her, his popcorn, and a the car that breaks down. At the beginning of the music video, a teenage Michael and his unnamed girlfriend are featured. He is wearing a classic red varsity jacket, blue jeans, white socks and dance shoes. His costume, particularly the varsity jacket works to make him look like a teenager in the 1950’s. His unnamed girlfriend is wearing a pink and purple 1950’s dress with white socks and a pair of Aris  1950’s swing dancing shoes. Both her shoes and dress are typical pieces of fashion from the 1950’s – dresses with a bell shaped bottom were very popular for women in the 1950’s.

Both her shoes and dress are typical pieces of fashion from the 1950’s – dresses with a bell shaped bottom were very popular for women in the 1950’s. Both of their costumes work effectively to ensure that they match the narrative – this scene was meant to be set in  the 1950’s. 

Both of their costumes work effectively to ensure that they match the narrative – this scene was meant to be set in  the 1950’s. In the other half of the video, teenage Michael Jackson is wearing an all red outfit that consists of a red leather jacket, red trousers and dance shoes. His unnamed girlfriend is wearing a denim jacket and low heels with pink/purple three quarter length trousers  which were a popular fashion statement during the 80’s (the time around the video was filmed).  As for location, the beginning scene at the movie theatre was filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.  The zombie dance sequence was filmed at the junction of Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East Los Angeles and the final house scene was filmed in the Angeleno Heights neighbourhood at 1345 Carroll Avenue also in Los Angeles. I would say that low key lighting is used throughout the video because the narrative is at night. 

Camerawork

In terms of camera work, there are a wide variety of camera shots, due to the film being narrative, it is almost like a mini film which would usually require multiple camera shots to appropriately capture what is going on. A long shot and head on shot are used at the beginning in the shot where the car is being driven towards the camera. Over the shoulder shots are used when they are talking in the car, this is effective as they are having a conversation; it puts the audience into the perspective of the characters. After this, various close ups are used to capture the close relationship between the two and establish the characters to the audience. A pan upwards is used when they are walking to put focus on their
costumes.  

Close ups, medium shots and over the shoulder shots are used during their conversation in the street. Close ups are again used specifically when Michael Jackson is turning into a werewolf, the reason for these close ups is that they allow the audience to see the characters’ emotions and empathise with them.  


There are also extreme close ups of his ears and hands changing. Long shots and medium shots are used to capture her running away into the woods and him chasing her through them. Close up shots are also used to show them in the cinema. A long shot is used when they come out of the cinema to establish location and costume. Head on shots are used when the zombies are coming towards the camera. Medium shots are used to show the group of zombies dancing.

Sound

Since the music video is largely narrative based, the music doesn’t actually start until 4.13 and the lyrics don’t start until 4.43. The whole song is only sung by Michael Jackson himself. The song is about the genre of thriller and things that happen in a supernatural world. The beginning (narrative only) section features sound effects like screaming, growling and some suspenseful music in the background. There is a backing track which was made from two modified minimoogs playing in unison. (A minimoog is a type of synthesiser which generates sound electronically). 

Editing

The music video starts with a black screen and text that reads “Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult. Michael Jackson.” As Michael Jackson was a Jehovah’s witness as the time and believing in zombies and other supernatural occurrences was frowned upon, he was saying to the audience that although the music video features examples of this, it does not reflect his own personal beliefs. Followed by this comment at the beginning of the music video which fades to black comes the song title which fades in, presented in thick red lettering before it too fades to black. As far as I can tell the only video transitions are cuts and fades to black At the end of the music video, there is a series of credits that are presented in white gothic style writing. 

▶    Discuss the representation of people especially focusing on gender identity including voyeurism

The main characters in the music video are teenage Michael Jackson and his unmade girlfriend (Ola Ray). I think that this music video presents women in a negative way based on the fact that throughout the video, she is portrayed as helpless and vulnerable to both the zombies and him as a werewolf. For example, she gets scared in the cinema and runs out which leads him to leave to make sure she is alright. Another example is at the end of the video when she is hiding in the house and he saves her. The fact that throughout the video she is helpless to the zombies without him make him appear as if he is superior to her and she is just a damsel in distress type character. 

▶    What can you say about the record label behind the production this? Has this influenced the final product? If so, how?

The two record labels behind the production are Epic Records and Columbia Records. Both of these record labels are owned by one of the big 3 – Sony Music Entertainment. 

One of the reasons I think that both record labels didn’t influence the final product is because the idea for the music video came from Jackson having seen Landis’ previous work on the horror film ‘An American Werewolf in London’. After seeing this, Jackson decided he wanted his main character to go through a similar transformation. Michael Jackson also stated that his idea was to make the short film with conversation – consisting of a beginning, middle and end similar to the style of a story. He also said himself that he was very much involved with the production and planning for the music video, this is evident through the music video itself. For this reason I think that the production of the music video wasn’t influenced by the record labels that distributed it. However, it could be argued that the record labels, being based in America did influence the choice of location as it was all filmed in Los Angeles. 

▶    What audience has been targeted and how can you tell? What makes it suitable for them? What type of audiences wouldn’t it be suitable for and why? Are there any secondary audiences?

Based on the concept of the narrative and the fact that it featured zombies and werewolves, I don’t think that the audience would have been young people and by young people I mean children or young teens. I think as an artist, Michael Jackson’s music appealed to a very wide audience. I think in terms of the main audience, the older generation would be targeted due to the fact that it is assumed that younger audiences prefer the pop and R&B genre rather than the disco and funk genre however, I would say that the secondary audience would be young adults/middle aged adults as all his music was very unique and iconic would appeal to them.

Watch the full music video here: